As we had the opportunity to mention before, ARETHE is a festival that provides the rare chance to enjoy contemporary art by way of the classic tea ceremony. This isn’t something that happens every day, because many people perform the tea ritual in a certain specific fashion. This is a more avant-garde style that presents an artistic side […]

The Way of Tea is much more than the single physical ceremony even most Westerners are familiar with. Chado was actually the reason that the ARETHE Festival was created in the first place. This ceremony was always actually sort of avant-garde. While the actual organization became rigidly ritualized in many cases, the actual art usually […]

The Festival Arethe will be coming to the Mizen Fine Art Gallery. Currently the organization plans to hold the festival between September 1 and October 31, 2016. This is going to be an extremely popular event, which means that those who are interested in seeing the cutting edge of tea art will certainly want to […]

Miyagawa Kosai is a name that is synonymous with Kyo-yaki to many people. There’s no name that’s shaped the art more according to some scholars. Rather than debate whether or not this is true, it’s better to look at the facts and allow individual people to appreciate art within its appropriate historical context. The oldest […]

The Miyagawa Kosai story is quite long and complex, since there have been so many quality members of the family as well as top-class students from the line. Scholars sometimes debate which members of the family are the superior artists. This kind of debate is fruitless, since each has their own style and therefore can’t […]

Between June 21-25, 2016 the Mizen Fine Art Gallery will be presenting the works of Miyagawa Kosai. These pieces are fine examples of the Kyo-yaki art, and they’re a rare breed to say the very least. It’s certainly work it to take a second look at how this unique artist got his start and where […]

Mizen Fine Art is certainly quite ecstatic over the fact that Miyagawa Kosai pieces are going to be shown at the gallery. The exhibition will be held in order to celebrate 18 works that were exclusively sold from June 21-25 of this year. Several of these pieces are indeed quite notable. Those who take an […]

Tanoue Shinya always stresses that one of the important themes for his pieces is the concept of the shell. Shells and husks of fruit, seashells and eggshells are all commonly parts of his inspiration. These shells all represent the circles of life to the artist, since the shell is connected with those things that create […]

Tanoue Shinya is the latest ceramics artist to receive a healthy promotion on behalf of the Mizen Art Gallery, and an exhibition of his work will start with a bang. There is an opening reception on May 26. Until then, though, it might be useful to take a look at some of the things that […]

Once again, the Mingei movement was extremely influential in so many fields as well as in ceramic. Yanagi Souetsu was a philosopher who stressed the value of traditional Japanese crafts quite a bit. Hamada Shoji and Kanjirou Kawai followed along, become the other two amongst the first three masters of this elegantly simple style. Naturally […]

Pottery continued to grow and transform throughout all of history in Okinawa. Nothing really ever stands still in the field of the arts. This was also true of this kind of pottery of course. The same was true of Okinawan ceramics during the Taisho period. By this point many people had become familiar with merchandise […]

More than anything, the pottery of Okinawa has been distinguished by the high contrast of bright colors as well as its unique indigenous style. It certainly incorporates outside ideas, but stands quite separate from others. What makes the collection at the Mizen Art Gallery so interesting, though, is that it actually is available for private […]

Anyone who might have taken a particularly strong interest in the recent exhibition of the pottery of Okinawa at the Mizen Art Gallery is encouraged to send e-mail to us. They can receive the full catalog of pieces in that way. For now, though, it may be fruitful to examine a few pieces from the […]

As the Mizen Art Gallery has been enjoying the presence of major works of Okinawa ceramic art, it might be a good time for some history. Free and dynamic art styles became widely incorporated into the Japanese artistic movement known as Mingei. This period marked a return to simple and solid concepts. Shapes designed during […]

Between Thursday April 28 and straight on through May 12, the Mizen Art Gallery will have the honor of introducing a seldom viewed collection of ceramic pieces from Okinawa. It isn’t often that these pieces are put on display outside of the Japanese prefecture by any means. This should therefore be looked at as quite […]

On April 15, 2016 the Mizen Art Gallery will host the Exhibition Wu Wei, which features the calligraphic art of Yoshimoto Shofu. This won’t be the first time that the gallery has honored this particular artist. Back in 2014 the Mizen Fine Art Gallery was promoting the artist, and work from the artist was exposed […]

The altogether too brief Kamakura period showcased art that juxtaposed fascinating Buddhist divinities alongside of modern notions of artistic realism. Asia Society recently featured an exhibition that covered this time period in Japanese history, and it featured many different representations of Buddhist divinities in vibrant styles. An approximately 22-inch tall head of a guardian with […]

Tomoyuki Hoshino says that he really gets into the feel of the clay that he works with, and that being aware of the histories and traditions that are involved in the making of ceramics is perhaps the most important thing when it comes to getting him ready for doing work. Harmonizing with the clay when […]

Tomoyuki Hoshino is no stranger to art exhibitions, but the new show that runs from January 28 until February 11, 2016 at the Mizen Fine Art gallery is something new in its own right. The artist has chosen « Anxious » as the theme for the exhibition, which is an interesting choice considering the fact that ceramic […]

Fukumoto Fuku was featured in many places before the Mizen Gallery of Art featured her pieces in person. At one point they had a feature written up on her in Ceramics: Art and Perception, which is an honor in its own right. Ms. Fukumoto remarked that the use of both exterior white glaze and interior […]

One of the biggest pieces of news in the art world right now is the fact that the Musée Rodin just reopened on November 12. The museum, dedicated to Auguste Rodin and his famous bronze pieces, was in bad shape and required major restoration work. This isn’t the first time that it had some difficulties, […]

Yamamoto Junko creates pieces that all have to do with life in some way. André Malraux, who is quite famous in some circles for his experimental French fiction, used to say something like « Life is worthless, but nothing beats life. » While life is incredibly important, few people would actually be able to define it. The […]

Ice Flower is the name that’s been given to the current exhibition of the ceramic art pieces made by the famous Fukumoto Fuku. Her art is, of course, being placed on display at the Gallery Mizen in Paris. Each of her pieces genuinely does have some features that art observers would often associate with flowers. […]

Between Steptember 19 and October 10, 2015 art appreciators were treated to a special exhibition of lacquerware held at the Mizen Gallery. The exhibition featured pieces taken straight from the universe of Kurimoto Natsuki. This isn’t something that most people get a chance to see regularly. This exhibition got to show off the rare urushi […]

On Saturday, May 23, 2015 Sasai Fumie completed her extension of the lacquer exhibition that was held at the Mizen Fine Art gallery. Sasai Fumie is a contemporary artist who works in the laquer medium. She’s also a Professor of the field of Art at the University of the Arts in Kyoto. While urushi lacquer […]

The French ride of SHOZO MICHIKAWA started at gallery MIZEN Fine Art on October 17th. Its terracotta sculptures seems like sharing a glamourous swing with the public. Collectors as well as refined aesthetes are invited to discover these inspired earthenware clays of the Japanese volcanic earth.

Shozo Michikawa started his French tour at the Mizen Gallery of Fine Art on October 17. His terracotta sculptures have certainly started to enjoy some popularity with the artwise public for sure. Collectors as well as connoisseurs are both invited to view these unique pieces made from a certain type of earthenware clay that has […]

It may help readers to better understand the story of Snow Country by Kawabata Yasunari. The novel tells the tale of a love interest that occurs at a remote hot springs onsen in Yuzawa, though the author doesn’t actually ever give the town a name in the book itself. Men traveling to the town would […]

Calligraphy is an art form that’s somewhere between writing and painting, which makes it all the more lovely. It combines aspects of the expressive power that comes with words as well as the extreme impact that’s made by a piece of visual art. Shofu Yoshimoto-sensei’s art is both feminine and bold. It’s delicate and yet […]

Those who have been following the Paris Yakimono Gallery for some time now have noticed the recent emphasis on Tamba pieces. There are the Noborigama and Anagama exhibitions, and the entire Inauemon Tamba Yaki exhibition runs through May 18. This is giving people an incredible opportunity to see tamba in a way that they haven’t […]